A portion of the backlot at Universal City Studios,my home for eighteen monthsI was 23 years old, at loose ends, per usual, had hammed it up in Junior High School plays, my mother had been a showgirl during the 1940s, I looked okay and I lived in Los Angeles. Clearly, the cinema was aching for my presence.I huddled with the General Manager of Universal Studios, a friend of one of my father’s cousins by marriage, to plot a career-launch strategy. After grilling me on what I thought about the symbolism in Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and perusing my very...
These Bookbags Have Got You Covered
File this item under: "Librarian Chic." Stylish Parisians have declared there's nothing more on-trend than carrying a collectible edition of a favorite book. Or at least its cover. One of France's most fashion forward designers, Olympia Le-Tan, has just debuted her premiere line of exclusive handbags under the title: You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover.Designer Olympia Le-Tan Rings In Her New Handbag LineThe Book (left) and The Bag It Inspired (center).The collection reproduces the covers of 21 tomes in canvas, embroidered felt applique, and silk thread. The meticulously handmade pieces are assembled over a book-sized brass framework to...
Church Releases Video of Halloween Book Burning
WARNING - The following video is hysterical.Well, here we have it. The planned pyre of blasphemy planned for Halloween by the Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton, North Carolina appears to have been reduced to a kitchen-sized garbage can filled with torn up books and CD's.Evidently the church has deemed this event a success. For on the sidebar of their website there is already mention of a 2010 book burning event.Here is the video in its entirety as released by the church. Note: It is a huge WMV file.Previously on Book Patrol:A Halloween Book Burning: Only God's Word Will SurviveAbout...
Will the Real N.R. De Mexico Please Stand Up?
Madman on a Drum (Cavalcade Books, 1944)In 1944, a noir suspense novel, a paperback original, was issued by a small paperback publisher out of New York. Madman on a Drum would be the first full-length book written by one N.R. De Mexico. In 1951, De Mexico wrote a book that would put his name into the Congressional Record, front and center in a debate about the negative effect of paperback literature on American culture. That book, Marijuana Girl, would become Exhibit A in Rep. Ezekiel C. Gathings' Congressional Sub-Committee's mini-crusade against drug use in popular literature.Marijuana Girl (Uni Books 19,...
Dig This Hipster Decor From A Library’s Store
Have you always wanted a crazy, copacetic crib but your pad screams strictly squaresville? Are you a cool cat or a hot chick with style galore but not much bread in store? Well you're in luck. Indiana's Elkhart Public Library is having a furniture sale.Normally a library is about the last place you'd expect to find retro-cool, Mid-Century Modern furniture but this one is the exception. The Elkhart Public Library moved into a modernist building in March of 1963, and the original furnishings included Herman Miller and Jens Risom desks, credenzas, tables and chairs, and Eames fiberglass chairs. Some of...